Just 2 Guys Were Responsible for Eliminating Diseases that Maimed Millions of People
bu John Lawrence
Jimmy Carter eliminated guinea worm as a disease that affected millions of people. Guinea worm disease is a painful parasitic infection caused by a thread-like worm that emerges from the skin, typically through the feet or legs. Since 1986, The Carter Center has led the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease, working closely with ministries of health and local communities, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and many others. Guinea worm disease could become the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be eradicated. It would be the first parasitic disease to be eradicated and the first disease to be eradicated without the use of a vaccine or medicine. Guinea worm is a particularly devastating disease that incapacitates people for extended periods of time, making them unable to care for themselves, work, grow food for their families, or attend school. In 1986, the disease afflicted an estimated 3.5 million people a year in 21 countries in Africa and Asia. Today, thanks to the work of The Carter Center and its partners — including the countries themselves — the incidence of Guinea worm has been reduced by more than 99.99 percent to 14 provisional* human cases in 2023.
Bill Gates has reduced river blindness to just a handful of cases. River blindness is a parasitic worm disease transmitted to humans by black flies. It causes blindness and severe skin disease. The Gates Foundation has helped eliminate river blindness in four South American countries and Niger, the first African country to achieve elimination. Fifty years ago, half of people living in West Africa were at risk for river blindness—a neglected tropical disease that, when left untreated, can cause permanent blindness, disfiguring skin conditions, and debilitating itching. In 2023, Niger became the first African country to eliminate the transmission of river blindness and Senegal is on track to become the second country to achieve the milestone. Now, the Gates Foundation is collaborating with Reaching the Last Mile and other global partners to eliminate river blindness and lymphatic filariasis across 39 countries in Africa and Yemen, helping to reduce the number of people requiring treatment by 350 million.
Granted these two men were not singlehandedly responsible for eradicating two horrible diseases affecting millions of people, but their efforts put resources where they needed to be to relieve the suffering of millions of people. Neither of these people have resources anywhere near the resources of the US government. So where does the US government put its resources? About a trillion dollars a year goes into the military-industrial complex fighting wars and getting ready (preparedness) to fight the wars of the future. With a smidgin of these resources, the US could instead eradicate many of the causes of war. According to the World Bank, around 44% of the global population, or roughly 3.5 billion people, live in poverty as measured by the upper-middle-income poverty line of $6.85 per day in 2024. According to the latest UN World Water Development Report, approximately 46% of the world's population lacks access to safely managed sanitation services, meaning they do not have adequate sanitation. According to the latest UN reports, around 26% of the world's population, which translates to roughly 2 billion people, do not have access to safe drinking water. Resource misallocation by the US government perpetuates the status quo and creates rather than solves problems related to world peace.
Jimmy Carter is one of the few Presidents that actually created peace in the world. The Egypt–Israel peace treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., United States, on 26 March 1979, following the 1978 Camp David Accords. The Egypt–Israel treaty was signed by Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, and Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, and witnessed by Jimmy Carter, President of the United States. According to the stated goals of the initiative, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to promote peaceful development, foster global stability, and contribute to world peace by encouraging economic interdependence, infrastructure development, cultural exchange, and diplomatic connections between participating nations. It's a step in the right direction even if not wholly successful. What is the US doing besides criticising China and gearing up another Cold War? Money spent on the military-industrial complex could be better spent on diplomatic efforts at creating world peace.
